Almost Autumn Cookies

I woke up yesterday and it was ... kind .. of ... chilly. There. I said it. It was kind of chilly and I had to put on a sweater. Although summer hasn't officially said good-bye (there are still watermelons and peaches and cherries and sweet corn galore!), we know that it's coming. Autumn is around the corner, whether we like it or not. And why shouldn't we? Fall means pumpkins and sweaters and leaves changing colour .. and it also means apples.

When I felt the chill yesterday morning, I thought it appropriate to bake up something with apples. I mentioned in an earlier post that I just discovered the ginger gold apple: a tart and slightly sweet, firm apple that's available in August -- possibly the first apples of the season. I bought a bunch the other day just because they reminded me of the Quebec pomme blanche, and today, I put a few of them to good use in this apple cranberry multi-grain cookie. It's delicious. It's totally addictive, and that's coming from a person with a good amount of will power. But addictive is good in this case because these little apple-y bits of love are packed with whole wheat flour, oatmeal and spelt flakes.


This is spelt. Ever used it? It's nutty and toasty and great in granola. You can also cook it up in porridge like oatmeal, but be careful because it turns mushy really quickly. And I discovered today that it's great in cookies. This cookie is kind of a combination of two oatmeal cookie recipes that I've tried. I liked one because it had fresh apples which you never find in cookies, and I like the other one because it was healthy and had cranberries and nuts. I smooshed the two recipes together and put them in the oven. 15 minutes later, I was in cookie heaven. The grated apples kept this cookie moist, which also let me reduce the amount of oil, and the walnuts and cranberries were the perfect match. But the spelt was really the star. It worked so well in these cookies, making them hearty and healthy enough for breakfast. Yup! Cookies for breakfast!



I can already see myself playing with different flavours. Cinnamon would have been an obvious addition, and I think I probably meant to add it but forgot (my migrain-wracked head was not on it's "A " game .. perhaps I shouldn't have exceeded the recommended maximum dosage of ibuprofen pills..). You can use maple syrup to replace some of all of the sugar -- I bet that would be awesome with the walnuts! You could even replace the oil with something like tahini or almond butter. My mouth is watering already...

See? Fall isn't all that bad.. you just need cookies.

Multigrain Apple Cranberry Walnut Cookies
inspired by Joy the Baker and kickpleat's post on Poppytalk
makes about 2 dozen

2 small apples, grated
1 egg
1/2 cup of brown sugar
3 tablespoons of canola oil
2/3 cup of whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup of spelt flakes
1/2 cup of rolled oats
1/3 cup of dried cranberries, roughly chopped
1/4 cup of chopped walnuts

1. In a large bowl, beat the egg with the sugar and canola oil. Add the apples and mix well.

2. Sift in the flour and baking soda and mix. Add the spelt and oats, cranberries and walnuts and mix well.

3. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a prepared cookie sheet. These cookies don't hold together too well before baking, so do your best to shape them up on the cookie sheet. Once they come out of the oven, they'll be fine.

4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until the tops get nice and brown.

5. Enjoy a few with your morning coffee. I dare you!